Air gun ammo

[Until the Angels Fall]

Merry Christmas everyone!!!

I am looking to throw a tin or two of .177 and .22cal air rifle pellets into my SHTF ammo pile...to be used for small game hunting...rabbit, squirrels, birds and so on. Now I know there is hunting pellets that are pointed and then there is also hollow point, and wad cutters. which is best for hunting? I have heard that the "hunting" pellets are not the best type as they punch right through without much damage...is this true? The only exp. I have with pellet gun hunting was years ago as a kid and I was using wad cutters on rabbits...within 10 yards.

UTAF

 

[mwjones]

For airguns that shoot sub-pal speeds (under 500fps) it realls doesn't make much of a difference. To be honest, i couldn't see a lot of difference with my dad's diana 350 magnum (abotu 850fps in .22 with 16gr ammo). Predator polymags showed huge expansion when shot at wood blocks, but so did everything else. Crosman premier hollowpoints shot the best.

I buy the 500 packs of crosman premiers because they're cheap and easy to get, and shoot reasonably well out of every gun i've tried. Some are a little tight, ands some are a little loose, but they all shoot good with a little shot of silicone lube sprayed in the tin.

 

[Canadian_Zuk]

I like Preadator Polymags for hunting. The polymere tip is MUCH harder than the lead it sits in. The idea is the polymer tip will easily shatter bones that are in the flight path. The polymer tip also greatly increases the expansion of the lead pellet due to the shape of its base, the lead will try to push around the tip on impact. The poly tip clears the path and the lead makes a mess behind it. I've been using them exclusivly in my 1200FPS Gamo for the last 2 years.

 

[trevj]

Unless you have a very fast shooting air rifle, skip the pointed and hollow point pellets.

The Brit airgun magazines are a pretty good place to get some good small game hunting info. The non FAC (Fire Arm Certificate) cutoff limit for them is a reasonably sensible 12 ft/lbs of energy. Say around 650 fps for a .22, 800 for a .177, roughly.

For rats (squirrels, fer instance) a lot of the folks recommend flat nose pellets for their energy transfer and limited penetration. Energy in a pellet that's skipping off through the woods behind your squirrel is wasted energy, eh.

Stash away what you can get, and what shoots reasonably well. Pointed pellets are in the same category as Titanium plated drill bits, IMO. They sell better, but don't really work better.

I usually gravitate towards the Crosman stuff, as it shoots well enough and is affordable and available. But try out the various stuff you can find. A lot of squirrels met their end to Milbro pellets before I ever found out that there was better than them available! Still dead squirrels!

Cheers
Trev

 

[deadeyes40]

i use the pointed hunting pellets in my air rifle for shooting birds in and around the barns at work.get them at canadian tire in bulk packs of 1250 in a small milk box shaped container.they are crossman pellets and cheaper than buying the 500 pellet tin.they also come in wadcutter/flatnose as well.